'Riveting' ceremony celebrates first Boeing C-17 being made for India

LONG BEACH - Civic, international and Boeing Co. officials gathered in the cavernous Long Beach assembly plant Tuesday to drill ceremonial rivets into the body of a C-17 Globemaster III being made for India, the first of nearly a dozen planes ordered by the country.

For some, the joining of four major sections of the C-17 signified more than the assembly of the military cargo plane's forward, center and aft fuselages and wing section.

"This C-17 event is another step in serving to strengthen the relationship between the United States and India," Boeing C-17 program manager Bob Ciesla said during the press event crowded with members of the Indian media and visiting Indian dignitaries.

Last year, India became Boeing's largest international customer when the country approved a $4.1 billion deal to purchase 10 C-17s. Those aircraft, to be delivered in 2013 and 2014, are expected to help modernize and replace the country's aging fleet of Russian-built cargo planes.

The C-17s will be used in humanitarian and disaster relief missions. The four-engine planes, at 174 feet long and with a 169.8-foot wingspan, are valued for their cargo capacity, their versatility and their ability to land on remote airfields in rough terrain.

"I am really impressed by the size, immensity and the quality of the way things are going on here (at the C-17 plant)," said ambassador Shri N. Parthasarathi, consul general of India. "But I didn't realize when I came here (that) we (are) really practically riveting the relationship between U.S. and India."

Parthasarathi spoke of his country's investment in the U.S., adding that the Indian government has awarded more than $9 billion in defense contracts to U.S. companies in recent years.

"India and the United States have a significant stake in each other's enduring success," he said.

India is one of several international customers Boeing has been pursuing in the last decade as declining U.S. Air Force orders for the C-17 threaten to close the Long Beach plant, the last aircraft manufacturing facility in California.

The current domestic and international orders will keep the production line that employs some 4,000 people going until late 2014.

So Boeing officials also have been aggressively seeking out foreign customers, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Qatar.

India's Air Force has indicated it is considering six additional C-17 purchases in coming years.

"International sales are what's likely going to keep this line moving," said Mayor Bob Foster. "The amount of planes the air force requires, according to them, is now diminishing and is going to reach the end of the U.S. military construction for these aircrafts. So the international sales for India, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and others are crucial. ... This is the last commercial aircraft manufacturing (site) in California and we want to keep it here."

Ciesla said Boeing is working feverishly to secure those international contracts and remains optimistic.

"From an opportunity standpoint, the C-17 has a great opportunity to extend the line for multiple years to come," he said. "And I think in the areas of Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Rim are great opportunities for us, and I think with those we'll be able to extend it for a couple more years."